Social Emotional Learning (SEL) By: Sabrina A. Balister, former MSW, LSW

by

      • 5 IMPORTANT POINTS TO KNOW ABOUT SEL By: Sabrina A. Balister, former MSW, LSW

        1. 1)  SEL (Social and Emotional Learning) is a vehicle for indoctrination into Leftist ideology, which is today’s cultural Marxism. SEL contains 5 Core competencies that are very subjective, and easily manipulated. They are: Self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and making responsible decisions. Beware of “language contamination”, which means definitions of terms have been changed without notice. Parents/community members should not be afraid to ask “What do you mean by that?”
        2. 2)  SEL is system wide. It is in nearly every American public school, colleges, universities, corporate training, government entities, and in several other nations that have membership with the World Economic Forum. Dr. Donna Black, in her “Handbook for SEL”, states that SEL is a crucial part of the WEF’s agenda and goals. The Globalist influence reaches far and wide, which is very alarming.
        3. 3)  All SEL programs are to comply with standards set forth by CASEL (Collaborative Association of Social and Emotional Learning). CASEL’s biggests funders are Bill Gates and the NoVo Foundation, which are hard left leaning. (Influencewatch.org) They both donate large sums of money and influence into social justice and gender identity causes, including the Transgender “cult”. (The Transgender push has all the markings of cult strategies. Refer to testimonies of de-transitioned individuals). CASEL also conveys a stated attitude that today’s parents are not doing an adequate job in teaching their children social and emotional learning skills. Therefore, CASEL has taken it upon themselves to fulfill this role. Parents BEWARE of the phrase that “the classroom and school is like a family for your child.” Be it known, the ultimate goal of those pushing SEL, is to replace parents’ and the family’s rightful influence. They are priming children to accept the State as their authority. This goal is at the root of communism, Marxism and socialism, and now globalism, which is completely against America’s Founding principles.
        4. 4)  For SEL to be ingrained into the hearts and minds of students, manipulative behavioral psychology is used. Teachers are not psychologists. They are not licensed to use psychological interventions on their students. Children do not have filters in place to protect themselves from manipulation, and they are naturally trusting of adults. It is unethical to manipulate anyone, especially vulnerable students. SEL and SEL surveys also serve as a vehicle to channel “vulnerable/high risk” students into promoted school mental health services. Mental health services are appropriate for some students that are truly struggling. However, where is the real data to show the need for the massive increase in school mental health services? What happens to the information collected on students? A review of SEL survey questions reveals many biased and leading questions. According to a current training manual for School Counselors, this profession has decided to make their main job in schools to be social justice advocates for racial and gender identity issues.
        5. 5)  SEL does NOT achieve overall academic improvement as its proponents claim. Failing test scores to meet benchmark standards are common for public schools across America in the past 5 to 10 years, which coincides with the introduction and push of SEL into

        public schools. Due to excessive focus on emotions, a child’s ability to develop critical thinking of concrete realities is stunted and sometimes lost. This is very damaging to children. They need real world experience and discomfort to learn boundaries, and to develop real problem solving, not contrived and artificial scenarios, as SEL activities employ.

        An honest assessment of SEL could be summed up in the following statement: “The more SEL, the less overall academic achievement.” The true goal of SEL is not to achieve academic excellence. It is to make what CASEL and the World Economic Forum believe to be “better world citizens”. Ask yourself exactly what does CASEL and WEF mean by “better world citizen”? And, why is their definition of a “better world citizen” the one everyone should follow? A reading of WEF’s stated goals clearly shows that all of WEF’s beliefs and actions stand against the uniqueness and sovereignty of nations, and especially against America’s Founding of Liberty and the unalienable rights given to humans by God, Himself, our Creator.

        All of the above information is a summary of 2 years of personal research into SEL; what it is, what it is not, where it came from, and what I have discovered are its real goals. I have read literature and watched videos from both those who believe SEL is a wonderful idea and useful and helpful, and those who see quickly all of its pitfalls and false claims. As a former Medical Social Worker of 20 years in the field, with continued professional education and training, my professional and personal assessment is that SEL has inherent pitfalls, and spiritually dark beginnings. There are elements of it that can be useful and helpful when employed in appropriate settings of group and individual counseling by trained professional therapists. But, it is a very inappropriate tool to be used in the emotionally UNSAFE setting of a school classroom or any other place that is not a confidential therapy setting. The facts about SEL’s origins are very alarming. They are directly tied to the occult. I strongly recommend folks to do their own research on John Fetzer and the Fetzer Institute, Alice A. Bailey, and John Dewey. All 3 of these individuals had a powerful impact on American public education. All 3 were heavy into the spiritual and the occult. John Fetzer was a pioneer of social and emotional learning.

        I want to strongly encourage parents and community members to inform themselves of the facts, and be willing to look deeper than what is on the surface of what you learn. Look for motives. Look for driving values and ideas. Look for attitudes about humanity and the human condition. And, most importantly, be humble enough to look for the Truth; what is real, what is proven time and again, what is concrete, what is tested time and again, what is healthy, what is unhealthy, what are consequences; good or bad. In today’s American society, we are often overloaded by deception and half truths. If we are going to give our children the protection they require, we must be more discerning, wiser, and more bold to speak up. The only place I have found to obtain the courage and truth needed to do this is through God’s Holy Word, which is enduring Truth and Life. Sabrina A. Balister